The present invention generally relates to mandolins, where the mandolin comprises a fretboard (or fingerboard) whereupon the strings are fingered with the fingers of a musician's first hand to produce a desired musical tone when the strings are plucked, picked, bowed or otherwise actuated by the musician's second hand. The mandolin comprises a sound chamber, or body, in which sound waves generated by the plucked strings are amplified by the vibrations of the materials forming the sound chamber and emitted from the sound chamber. The sound chamber is made up of the front (also referred to as “top” or “carved top”), back and sides.
For a right-handed player, the right hand is typically utilized for bowing, picking, strumming, or otherwise actuating the strings of the mandolin. For the remainder of this description, it will be assumed that the instrument is “right handed”, i.e., built to be played by a right-handed person. However, correlating the description for a left-handed instrument only requires the assumption that the right hand is utilized for fingering the notes and the left hand is utilized for bowing, picking or strumming the strings.
The sides of the mandolin may, for purposes of description, be identified with respect to the strings. The treble strings of the mandolin are on the side of the instrument generally facing downward as the instrument is played, while the bass strings are on the side of the mandolin generally facing upward as the instrument is played. Using the strings as a point of reference, the sides of a mandolin may be referred to as the treble side and the bass side. With respect to the string orientation described above, the side of the mandolin generally facing downward while played is considered as the treble side of the instrument and the side of the instrument facing upward is considered as the bass side of the instrument.
For the typical right-handed player, the portion of the sound chamber where the neck of the mandolin attaches is adjacent to the player's left arm, and the rounder teardrop area of the sound chamber is adjacent to the player's right arm. The left hand is utilized for fingering notes on the fretboard, where the fretboard is disposed on the neck of the instrument. For most mandolins, a portion of the fretboard cantilevers over the carved top. The portion of the fretboard cantilevering over the carved top is typically referred to as the fretboard extension.
Under the traditional design for mandolins there are two predominant styles. The first is called the “F-Style” and has ornate appointments like carved scrolls and points that are primarily for aesthetic beauty. The F-Style mandolin generally features f-shaped holes for the sound holes carved into the carved top. The second design is called an “A-Style” mandolin which is similar to the F-Style except the former generally has a relatively simple appearance by excluding all the ornate features like scrolls and points. A-Style mandolins often implement a round or oval shaped sound hole on the carved top as opposed to the f-shaped holes of the F-Style. However, over the years, instrument makers have modified each traditional design, combining features of both, resulting in hybrid designs. While the drawings included herein generally depict F-Style mandolins, the disclosed integrated armrest may also be fabricated into a A-Style mandolin without any significant variation in the fabrication method and as known by those skilled in the art of the invention.
As opposed to instruments which are bowed, such as a violin, where the notes continue to sound as the instrument is bowed, the notes played on a mandolin, like other plucked instruments, gradually decay to silence. Because of its small size and higher pitch, the notes of a mandolin will also typically decay faster than notes played on larger plucked stringed instruments, such as guitars. For various types of music, it is desirable that the time for the plucked notes to decay to silence be extended, that is sustained. It is also desirable that mandolins have sufficient volume such that the sound of the instrument is not lost amid the sounds of other instruments or background noise.
The volume of an instrument and the ability of the instrument to sustain plucked notes are generally a function of the instrument's ability to produce and transmit sonic energy. This characteristic of a particular instrument is impacted by a variety of factors, including the materials used in the instrument, the geometry of the instrument, and the manner in which the instrument is fabricated. Mandolins are constructed to physically and sonically vibrate the carved top by transferring vibration energy from a plucked string through the bridge directly into the carved top, which acts as a vibrating membrane creating sound wave energy. The vibrating top, in unison with the vibrating back, produces a “pumping action” resulting in differential air pressure within the sound chamber. This “pumping action” greatly contributes to the melodic sound of the mandolin. It should be understood that both the front and the back vibrational capacity of the mandolin are paramount for creating the melodic sonic tones and notes expected from a mandolin. Higher frequency (treble) sound waves are produced and emitted directly off the top face of the carved top. Lower frequencies (bass) are produced by the carved top vibrating the air inside the mandolin body, emitting the lower frequency sound waves through the openings discussed above. The greater the carved top vibration, the greater the sound wave energy produced. Secondary but noticeable tonal sound energy waves also come from the vibrating sides and carved back of the mandolin. Thus, the sound chamber is ideally designed to be as sonically active as possible. However, the sound chamber may be negatively influenced by any structures which impede its vibration. Such structures include the detachable armrests which are commonly utilized on mandolins.
Mandolins may have separate ergonomic armrests which may be attached to either the upper sides of the mandolin, to the top, or, most commonly, to the top, back and sides together. The armrest comprises a resting member for the player's arm and attachment means for mechanically attaching the armrest to some part of the sound chamber. The armrest will generally be located on the bass side of the sound chamber on top of the mandolin. The known armrests are aftermarket products designed to be removable from the mandolin body. However, because these armrests attach to the sound chamber, the means of attachment and extra weight of the armrest inhibit vibration, as well as the sound chamber “pumping action” ability, resulting in decreased sound energy and a less resonant top and back. In addition to stiffening the carved top, the known mandolin armrests, and associated support structures, stiffen the sides of the instrument, thus reducing the secondary tonal sound energy waves coming from the vibrating sides and carved back of the mandolin. This decrease in the vibrational capacity of a mandolin results in diminished sound energy, particularly because the known armrests are immediately adjacent to the most sonically active area of the sound board.
The present invention overcomes the above-described problem by implementing an integrated armrest constructed utilizing a “flexible” or “pinned” connection. This manner of construction is preferable to attached armrests which create added weight and impair the flexibility of the connections between the front, side, and back of the instrument due to the nature of the mechanical connection of traditional mandolin armrests. The disclosed armrest is not simply achieved by beveling the side and top of the instrument, which requires the utilization of structures which stiffen the connections between the front, side and back of the instrument. Instead, the disclosed armrest utilizes a modified support member not currently known in the art.